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Burl


T.J.watts

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I'm making a kukri for a guy that will most likely be using it in Africa. He has requested spalted maple burl for the handle. It's a hidden tang and I'm wondering if the burl will hold up to a 9" kukri. I don't want a military guys weapon to fail in use and I'm wondering if I should use cocobolo or some other hardwood. What do you guys think?

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Not all spalted is the same.  One piece can be quite a bit punkier than another.  I've seen some which you could break like it was totally rotten and some which was fairly solid...but not hard.  By nature it's not hard and using burl can actually make the breakage possibility worse.

So...for a rough service knife, I personally would avoid it.  However, you have to give him what he wants so I'd look into stabilization techniques.  If you can't trust the wood to be superior, you can make it superior via chemicals (like epoxy encapsulation under vacuum).  I've heard some people who say they get superior results with "super glue" because it's thin and penetrates well..plus polishes to a nice shine.  One friend uses it for the finish on all his custom pool cues (which sell for about $ 2500 ea on an 18 month waiting list)

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As a general note about epoxy glues, the faster the cure the weaker the glue. PERIOD. If you have time you can improve strength by using a LITTLE less catalyst but don't get carried away, 24hr. epoxy is usually stronger than a human being can break.

Frosty The Lucky.

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